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But he also cautions that opposition like Millwall today still regard Stoke as a notch on the bed post and dig that bit deeper to make things difficult.

Stoke, who complete the first half of their fixture programme this weekend, kick off against Millwall 11th in the table and five points shy of the top six.

“Hopefully, when we are playing our best, we’ll shoot up the league,” says Clucas.

“I think everyone should be fearing us. When you look at the squad and the teamsheet, and the manager, and the size of the club, every game we go to play in it’s a big scalp for the majority of teams we play.

Sam Clucas... believes there could be a lot to shout about this season (Image: Alex Burstow/Getty Images)

"They think `right, we’ve got to go and beat Stoke because they are a Premier League team with Premier League players.’

“So the other teams have got that extra five-to-10 per cent impetus to beat us and get a big scalp, so it is difficult, but we shouldn’t fear anyone because on our day we are good enough to beat anybody.”

Clucas, who watched from the stands after joining Stoke from Swansea when already injured, continued: “We’ve had our downturn at the start of the season and hopefully it’s all up from now on.